Kim Mulkey delivers fiery response to rumored Washington Post article: 'Sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs’

Friday night, a rumor made its way around social media about a potential story in the Washington Post about LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. That chatter came up as the Tigers were playing in the Women’s NCAA Tournament against Rice, which they eventually won 70-60.

Sunday, LSU will take on Middle Tennessee State with a spot in the Sweet Sixteen on the line. Ahead of the game, though, Mulkey responded to the rumors of an article coming down in the next few days.

Mulkey offered a passionate statement during her Saturday press conference, promising to fight back.

“This reporter has been working on a story about me for two years,” Mulkey said. “After two years of trying to get me to sit with him for an interview, he contacts LSU on Tuesday as we were getting ready for the first round game of this tournament, with more than a dozen questions demanding a response by Thursday, right before we were scheduled to tip off. Are you kidding me?

“This was a ridiculous deadline that LSU and I could not possibly meet, and the reporter knew it. It was just an attempt to prevent me from commenting and an attempt to distract us from this tournament. It ain’t gonna work, buddy.”

Mulkey said she declined an interview with the reporter due to a story they wrote about football coach Brian Kelly after he took over for Ed Orgeron. She said she also heard about the reporting process, which saw her former coaches and some former players receive phone calls.

“Unfortunately, this is part of a pattern that goes back years,” Mulkey said. “I told this reporter two years ago that I didn’t appreciate the hit job he wrote on Brian Kelly, and that’s why I wasn’t going to do an interview with him. After that, the reporter called two former college coaches of mine and left multiple messages that he was ‘with me’ in Baton Rouge to get them to call him back – trying to trick these coaches into believing that I was working with the Washington Post on a story.

“When my former coaches and found out that I wasn’t talking with the reporter, they were just distraught and they felt completely misled. Former players have told me that the Washington Post has contacted them and offered to let them be anonymous in a story if they’ll say negative things about me. The Washington Post has called former disgruntled players to get negative quotes to include in their story. They’re ignoring the 40-plus years of positive stories that they had heard from people about me.”

Kim Mulkey: ‘I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country’

Kim Mulkey also called out “sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs” when discussing the Washington Post story. In addition, she said she is bringing in legal representation to “hold these kinds of journalists accountable.”

“You see, reporters who give a megaphone to a one-sided embellished version of things aren’t trying to tell the truth,” Mulkey said. “They’re trying to sell newspapers and feed the click machine. This is exactly why people don’t trust journalists and the media anymore. It’s these kinds of sleazy tactics and hatchet jobs that people are just tired of. I’m fed up, and I’m not gonna let the Washington Post attack this university, this awesome team of young women I have or me without a fight.

“I’ve hired the best defamation law firm in the country, and I will sue the Washington Post if they publish a false story about me. Not many people are in a position to hold these kinds of journalists accountable. But I am, and I’ll do it. That’s all I’m gonna say about this right now. And now, I’m going to get back to talking about my basketball team and winning this game tomorrow.”

Mulkey is in her third season at LSU after leading Baylor to three national championships. She took the Tigers to the mountaintop a season ago as part of an impressive turnaround, and they’ve continued that domination this year. LSU is the No. 3 seed in the Albany 2 Region with a 28-5 overall record.

As a whole, the Tigers are 88-13 under Mulkey’s watch.